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COMMERCE, Ga. - Notes from round 2 qualifying in Top Fuel at the NHRA Full Throttle Drag Racing Series, 29th annual Summit Racing Equipment NHRA Southern Nationals listing lane, driver name, elapsed time/top speed this round, position in order following run, best prior elapsed time/speed, and position in order prior to run: Left Lane: Luigi Novelli Runs 8.993/89.82, Now #15; No Prior Run 6:13 p.m. Weather conditions: air temperature 73 degrees, relative humidity 27 percent, barometer 29.50 inches, adjusted altitude 1,795 feet, track temperature 92 degrees. Novelli was up in smoke almost immediately, making his first official NHRA pass
of the year. Left Lane: Terry McMillen Runs 4.580/168.47, Now #12; Best prior run: 10.885/80.68, Was #17 McMillen started hazing the tires and skating around about 600 feet out and shut it off. Chris Karamesines was on the 12-car bump at 4.692, so McMillen's shutoff run was still quick enough to get him in the field - for now. Left Lane: Clay Millican Runs 5.898/107.68, Now #16; Best prior run: 9.356/73.02, Was #17 Right Lane: Todd Paton Runs 4.038/285.05, Now #9; No Prior Run Paton did not make an attempt in the first session of the day, Millican smoked the tires early in his first try. Millican got about 100 feet, started to smoke the tires, pedaled, smoked again and lifted. Paton got almost to the line, then "lit it up." The fire continued as he struggled to get the car stopped and the chutes never did come out. He got it stopped anyway, then struggled to get out of the apparently tight cockpit. He got out okay and the fire was quickly controlled by the Safety Safari, but we'll be down for a few minutes for a cleanup. Now Troy Buff is on the bump spot at 4.499. Left Lane: Joe Hartley Runs 6.255/100.67, Now #18; Best prior run: 8.925/83.46, Was #17 Right Lane: Terry Haddock Runs 3.915/301.47, Now #7; No Prior Run Hartley lost traction after 100 feet or so. Haddock made a full pass, appeared to be using up some parts on the top end. Left Lane: Troy Buff Runs 7.526/90.70, Now #14; Best prior run: 4.499/175.14, Was #13 Right Lane: Morgan Lucas Runs 3.844/308.21, Now #1; Best prior run: 5.588/134.16, Was #16 Haddock's pass put Cory McClenathan on the bump spot at 4.458. Buff rattled the tires right off the line and shut it
off. Lucas made a nice run, running a career-best ET at 1,000 feet - and he's now #1. Left Lane: Cory McClenathan Runs 5.541/117.49, Now #13; Best prior run: 4.458/176.77, Was #13 Right Lane: Bobby Lagana Jr. Runs 3.976/304.19, Now #10; Best prior run: 4.230/214.76, Was #12 Lucas' run put Bobby Lagana Jr. on the bump spot at 4.230. Cory Mac was the only driver with a chance to bump Lagana - the remaining drivers in line are already in the 12-car field. McClenathan started hazing the tires about 200 feet out. Lagana
continues to "improve his craft" and he posted a career-best 1,000-foot ET, his first-ever "three." Left Lane: Doug Kalitta Runs 3.891/310.41, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.974/306.19, Was #9 Right Lane: Spencer Massey Runs 3.910/307.44, Now #8; Best prior run: 3.983/298.54, Was #11 The remaining drivers are already in the "provisional field." Two nice-looking runs, both drivers stepping up from
their first pass today. Left Lane: Bob Vandergriff Runs 3.878/314.39, Now #4; Best prior run: 3.895/302.62, Was #7 Right Lane: Shawn Langdon Runs 7.889/80.26, Now #9; Best prior run: 3.912/305.98, Was #9 These two made good runs earlier today, so both teams had good information to tune from. Langdon's team, went a
little over-center and he rattled the tires about 200 feet out. Vandergriff's team made it look like they had been doing this all
season instead of making just his second pass of the year, making a nice improvement over the earlier run. Left Lane: Tony Schumacher Runs 3.925/257.83, Now #6; Best prior run: 3.884/309.98, Was #6 Right Lane: Larry Dixon Runs 4.564/165.80, Now #5; Best prior run: 3.881/310.98, Was #5 This may not be a real "grudge match," but it is an interesting pairing, Schumacher lining up against his former crew chief's team car. Score this one for the Army dragster, Dixon's car losing traction around half track. However, neither car was
under power at the stripe, Schumacher apparently losing the engine shortly after Dixon lost traction. The Safety Safari once again
rolls to the rescue, a full response. Left Lane: Brandon Bernstein Runs 8.298/78.62, Now #2; Best prior run: 3.866/310.48, Was #2 Right Lane: Antron Brown Runs 6.964/84.55, Now #3; Best prior run: 3.869/310.13, Was #3 The Safety Safari did their usual good job so the final pair of cars of the could get down the track before the Sun set. It was a close call, but they made it - and the lights were not needed. That was an anticlimax. Both cars got about 200 feet and lost traction. Awww, shucks! With two qualifying sessions in the books, Morgan Lucas is #1 at 3.844 and Todd Paton is on the bump
spot at 4.038.
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